Off-Menu Catering Services

I used Off Menu catering for my wedding this past February. I was extremely pleased with their services. The point of contact I worked with was Julia, the catering and events coordinator. Julia kept me updated via email throughout the process. She was very easy to work with. Off-​Menu works with a variety of chefs, so Julia discussed with us what kind of food we were interested in (local style food) and recommend Chef Kevin from Off the Wall restaurant. The food was great, everyone enjoyed it (he was even able to make a couple of vegan dishes that tasted fantastic). Even my Dad didn’t have any complaints (he normally has some sort of comment everywhere we eat). The servers where very professional, efficient and friendly. The overall experience working with this company was outstanding and I would highly recommend them, especially since you have the option of picking different chefs.

Off-​menu, and particularly Julia was AMAZING. We unfortunately did not go with their company for financial reasons (but their prices were extremely reasonable). But given how attentive and responsive Julia was I felt the need to write a stellar review. Any brides out there planning an upcoming wedding in search of a caterer should absolutely, at the very least, schedule an appointment to meet with Julia. She sent a very detailed proposal, and set up an amazeballs tasting. She was very easy to work with, and what if my biggest regrets during my wedding process is being unable to work with her and off-​menu!

Off Menu did the catering for my group’s Christmas Party. It was buffet style serving. I accidentally took the veggie sandwich instead of the meat one. No offense to my vegetarian friends, but I’m just not a fan. It was too late to put it back so I went with it, reluctantly. Surprise, surprise — it turned out to be pretty good! The rest of the food was excellent, but that unexpected enjoyment impressed me a lot. I definitely recommend them.

Kevin Fujinaga, Off Menu’s Catering Manager, was incredible to work with. He was able to get a sense of the type of cuisine we were looking for and suggested we use Chef Peter Foster.
The tasting he gave my parents (I was unable to attend) blew them away, the food was excellent, the presentation was so thoughtful and the service and care was above and beyond.
Our wedding was fully outdoor and Kevin went above and beyond to make sure everything ran smoothly — running both of the two bars and the catering. Everyone comment and told us the food was incredible and folks even mentioned it was the best wedding food they had ever had.
We were really touched that they took the initiative to serve food to my 100 year old Grandmother. We had food stations instead of a sit down meal and we had meant to let them know she should be served. However, once we introduced her to the guests they took note and initiative to serve her so she didn’t have to get up from her table. That was awesome and those small details matter.
I would highly recommend Off Menu, they care about your event and finding the right catering style to match your taste, they are highly-​professional and flexible when it comes changes, budgets or last min needs on the day of the wedding.

We are so grateful that we came across Off-​Menu thanks to Unilocal and hired them to cater our wedding. Julia, their catering manager was AWESOME to work with, super proactive and took initiative every step of the way to ensure our wedding reception went perfectly. She was super responsive and answered all my questions; really, I couldn’t ask for anyone better.
It was a small beach wedding with a foodie crowd so the bar was set high already. We went with Chef Peter of Memoirs and the food was amazing! The foodies gave their stamp of approval on the pork belly sliders, ahi lumpia, mini loco moco action station and the fish! As the bride, my favourite was the rib eye with mushrooms (devoured for breakfast the next day!).
We were having a destination wedding so the entire reception planning was done from New York without a visit to Hawaii. Off-​Menu was a breeze to work with and really made it happen for us!
Thank you for your hard work, we are so happy with everything!

We hired Off-​Menu to cater our wedding, and we hit the jackpot! We were completely happy.
First of all, Kevin returned our calls and emails promptly, which is sadly more than I could say about a few other companies we contacted. He was really available and responsive. He spent a lot of time on the phone with me answering questions and going over details.
We wanted locally-​sourced and healthy food, and Kevin found us Doug Lum and Bill Bruhl of Green Cuisine, who not only provided that, they clearly believed in it. They made our menu vision a reality. The fish they prepared was just spectacular. We also brought in food from a couple of other vendors besides Off-​Menu (like Bubbies!), and Kevin was very amenable to this, even helping us figure out how to coordinate with the different vendors.
Kevin was quite willing to work with us as we trimmed some costs in other ways, often with suggestions. He was tremendously flexible. There was very little prescription to what Off-​Menu provided. It really was our design and their service.
Off-​Menu wasn’t cheap, but then I’m not sure how much caterers charge. Maybe the cost was normal. Putting on a wedding is expensive, and this was major part of our expense, but we felt it was worth it. We got superb food — verified by dozens of our guests — and great service. In addition to all the preparatory work, the catering staff on-​site were very friendly and professional. They made things easy for all of the guests.
All-​in-​all, Off-​Menu was a great pleasure to work with.

I found Off-​Menu when I was looking for a wedding caterer. They have a great relationship with Indigo’s chef, which means we’ll be getting great sustainable, local food for our wedding. They also work with Town/Downtown’s chef, who also goes above and beyond the sustainable food idea. Kevin is great to work with… always on top of things and easy to contact by email or phone for destination brides. I love that I get invited to the «Off Premise» events throughout the year! Too bad I don’t live there or I’d be going all the time!

Since my first review of Off Menu, I’ve been graciously invited and attended two more of their «Off Premise» events — most recently, the Great Gatsby-​themed dinner by Le Guignol’s Chef Ala Sutton held at Kathy Ireland’s Oasis estate. Talk about a swanky event… open bar (serving up dirty martinis and pineapple-​infused vodka) on the lawn of the beautiful estate.

As we sipped cocktails and were served crostini appetizers by sharp-​suited servers we were surrounded by spectacular ocean views and as always, the event’s theme was executed perfectly by the Off-​Menu crew. Jazz played softly in the background as (in typical fashion) our liquored-​up and boisterous table enjoyed the five courses of fancy delicious food:
Braised Artichoke and Curried Quinoa to start:
the artichoke was a little awkward to tackle at first, a bit dry as I prefer to have it steamed but the quinoa with the cucumber, goat cheese and almonds was pure textural genius.
Chilled Lobster Cappuccino was like a foamy whipped lobster flavored butter. I wish I had bread to spread this on as it was a bit salty — really neat though, I caught a glimpse of them dishing these glasses and it was reminiscent of watching an iron chef battle!
Next was the Lobster tail, I really enjoyed the citrus sauce (called Maltese)
Finally, the main course of Chicken fried veal cheek and veal tenderloin I can’t speak for but looked delicious, as my non-​meat request was klndly accommodated and I was served salmon prepared similarly to the veal — witha rosemary, fig and balsalmic reduction with parsnip purée:
The finale was, of course, dessert … chocolate soufflé and cheesecake icecream — dare I say it was even better than Roy’s?!
I can’t speak highly enough of the skill the Off-​Menu peeps attention to detail and skill at pulling off every theme I’ve attended thus far. If you ever need a crew to pull together an innovative culinary experience and end-​to-​end event planning, look no further.
For more pics and details about the event, check out the post by nonstophonolulu’s Melissa Chang: